Bill SB 509 establishes the creation of the database, while the other bill, AB 1879, requires the DTSC to prioritize chemicals of concern and analyze alternatives, and gives authority to this agency to restrict hazardous chemicals in products used in California.

Similar hazardous chemical lists already exist in Canada and the European Union. The Environmental Working Group has a searchable database for chemicals present in cosmetics, but this is the first law-mandated database on its kind in the United States.